VANCOUVER — Across the province, colleges and universities are addressing the needs of students by focusing on skills development, experiential learning, community engagement and other innovations. Here’s a look at what some B.C. schools are doing.

Langara College

“Innovation and creativity have to be rooted in an institution’s academic and/or strategic plan,” Brad O’Hara, provost and vice-president, academics and students at Langara said.

With the help of people from across the campus, the college recently completed an academic plan. “One of the value statements in that plan states that we value innovation and creativity in supporting and teaching our students,” O’Hara said.

But, he adds, part of the school’s ability to be innovative and creative is also based on supporting faculty. To this end, the school offers professional development funding and professional development days on campus.

Langara is also partnering with other institutions. In July, Langara came to a new agreement with the Vancouver school board that sees the integration of VSB’s Continuing Education program into the school’s Continuing Studies. The agreement adds up to a combined offering of nearly 800 courses in seven locations.

And the school is also working on establishing a partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia. Currently, Langara provides “a venue for a couple of their programs,” O’Hara said. These include UNBC’s MBA class and Bachelor of Social Work program. “And we’re looking at some other opportunities with them that take advantage of some of our strengths, and the strengths they offer,” O’Hara said.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Kwantlen, which has four campuses in the South Fraser region, including Richmond, Langley, Surrey, and Cloverdale, has a vision for 2018 that specifies an academic plan that builds on its strengths. These include “an integration of applied learning with academic learning and engagement with the community,” president Alan Davis said, along with “an intensive teaching environment, small classes and focused faculty.”

“You’re not just going to sit in the classroom and take notes, you’re going to have to connect what you’re learning with the real world,” he said. “Depending on the program, there’ll be lots of opportunities for global experiences. At the senior levels, you might find yourself involved in serious research projects.”

These could include research into social issues affecting the community, as in a current project which is investigating issues related to youth and gang violence in the South Fraser region, or working in a state-of-the-art greenhouse to find more efficient ways to grow crops.

“Our programs are very intensive, very relevant, and very real-world,” Davis said. “We like to think that our graduates, when they leave, are ready both for work and are aware of the social, ethical and environmental issues no matter what their subject, and that they can become engaged citizens.”

Capilano University

“We needed to have a coherent statement about our vision, and our academic identity,” said Richard Gale, vice-president academic and provost at Capilano.

“So we took a year, and did a whole bunch of consultation, and put together a document indicating where our priorities are, and that lays the groundwork for how we’re going to move forward over the next five years.”

Improving that experience also includes strengthening the school’s ties to the real world.

“We have a commitment to bringing faculty to the campus who are also working in the field,” he said. “And we’re committed to having our students working in the field while they’re studying.”

For instance, students in the film program are working with the most up-to-date technology, and are doing work in the real world. Many of the students in the animation program worked on the recent hit film Frozen, Gale notes.

University of the Fraser Valley

Along with local school districts, UFV is organizing a forum to align learning outcomes with K-12 schools in the Fraser Valley. The Forum on Learning Outcomes and Assessment: Developments and Intersections Between K-12 and Post-Secondary Education (Nov. 19) will help ensure “a seamless transition from K-12 to university,” said Eric Davis, provost and vice-president academic at the University of the Fraser Valley. “This will better meet the needs of students in the valley,”

UFV is also committed to the integration of trades with liberal and professional education.

“Our trades students can get their trade credentials and ladder that into a bachelor of business administration and trades management,” Davis said. “It’s the kind of integration that is transforming what a university education means.”

UFV is the only university in Canada with a campus in India, where it offers a Bachelor of Business Administration. “Most of the students, before they complete their degree, will transfer over to the Fraser Valley to complete the program.”

The school also boasts the B.C. Centre for Excellence in Agriculture, which has state-of-the-art facilities that make it a hub for agriculture research in the province.

As well, UFV has a commitment to indigenization, Davis says.

“We’re transforming the university into a place where indigenous students can be comfortable, and where they won’t have to deny their identity.”

University of Northern BC

One of UNBC’s chief mandates is to support experiential learning activities in classrooms, and to connect the school with the community.

“We’ve had First Nations department classes that have involved students and faculty in traditional practices,” said Heather Smith, director of the centre for teaching learning and technology at UNBC.

One course brought together university and high school students with First Nations elders to build a pit house, a traditional winter shelter.

“The students had the experience of being in that environment, and also of learning about First Nations traditions, culture and practices,” Smith said.

The school is also increasing the number of students who are involved in one-on-one research with faculty members.

“We’re small, but research-intensive,” she said.

“As early as their second year, the students can work in the lab with world-class scientists, or do research with historians of national or international renown. These are experiences that they couldn’t have in larger institutions.”

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B.C. colleges and universities focus on experiential learning, community engagement

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